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ORATION 



*** 



DELIVERED AT KEENE, N. H., 



FEBRUARY 22, 1832, 



BEING THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH-DAY OF 



WASHINGTON. 



BY SALMA HALE. 



KEENE, N. H. 

PUBLISHED BY GEO. TILDEN, 
1832. 



£ 



& 

fr 



Keene, February 23, 1832. 
Hon. Salma Hale, — 

Dear Sir: A large number of gentlemen who had the pleasure of 
listening to your Address on the 22d inst., have deputed us to ask of you a 
copy for the press. 

Your compliance with this request will, we know, greatly oblige all who 
heard you on that occasion, and, we have no doubt, will be very gratifying to 
the public generally. 

Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servants, 

• SAMUEL DINSMOOR, Jun. 
L. CHAMBERLAIN, 
JAMES WILSON, Jun. 



Keene, February 29, 1S32. 
Gentlemen : 

The flattering request of my fellow-citizens, conveyed to me in 
your polite note of the 23d instant, 1 now comply with, expressing the hope 
that they will attribute a portion at least of the defects which they may, on 
perusal, discover in the Address, to the shortness of the time allowed me to 
prepare it. 

I am, gentlemen, 

Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

S. HALE. 
Messrs. S. Dinsmoor, Jr., 
L. Chamberlain, 
James Wilson, Jr. 



ORATION. 



It is good for us, my fellow-citizens, to be gathered to- 
gether on an occasion like the present. We meet here on 
common ground. We have come together to do honor 
to the memory of a man, dear to us all — a benefactor of 
the Nation — one of the founders of our Republic — the 
contemplation of whose character and actions must sup- 
press every rancorous passion, and cherish and strengthen 
those feelings which improve and exalt human nature. 
We have come together to review events effected by un- 
shaken resolution, heroic fortitude, and sober, considerate, 
all-absorbing devotion to the rights of man — events to 
which we owe the happiness we enjoy, and which gather 
interest as they recede from us. 

Fortunate, indeed, is it for that nation which can look 
back with pride and delight upon the past ; whose histo- 
ry presents epochs that all can contemplate with kindling 
enthusiasm ; whose roll of patriots and heroes is inscribed 
with names, Avhite for their virtues and splendid for their 
deeds, and which can be displayed, with honest exulta- 
tion, to an admiring world. Of such a nation it may, with 
confidence, be predicted, that, as the future ever bears an 
impress of the past, her career will be long and glorious. 

First on the list of American worthies stands inscribed 
the name of him whose birth this assembly here unite to 



commemorate. A century has elapsed since George 
Washington was born. Into that century what events 
have been crowded ! What grand, delightful, terrible 
scenes have passed before the eyes of the generations of 
men who have lived, acted, and died within it, or survive 
to witness the changes yet to happen ! Our country wit- 
nessed the commencement of this series of unparalleled 
events ; the man whom we honor stood forth the most 
prominent actor, and, more than any other nation sub- 
jected to their influence, have we cause to wonder and re- 
joice at the changes they have effected. 

Let us cast our eyes back upon the condition of our 
country — of the thirteen British colonies in America — 
at the period to which, at this moment, the thoughts of 
us all with gratitude recur. The settlements they con- 
tained were then hardly more than scattered specks upon 
the margin of the ocean. Georgia did not exist ; the re- 
pose of her forests had not then been disturbed by the 
sound of the axe or the gun of the white man. The whole 
number of whites, from one end of this extended line of 
settlements to the other, did not exceed half a million. 
Along their exposed frontier prowled the merciless savage, 
and beyond them were planted the French, active, saga- 
cious, hostile, and ever ready to incite them to war against 
the English, in the hope, at least, of preventing their in- 
crease, if not of driving them from the land. Our cities 
were villages, our villages were hamlets, and bears wan- 
dered and wolves howled in the forests which encircled 
them. The husbandman often labored with arms by his 
side, and his herds yielded almost nightly contributions to 
the tenants of the woods. The province of New-Hamp- 
shire contained less than 3000 rateable inhabitants, and 
but 16,500 acres of improved land ; less than the contents 
of a single township. The soil of Keene had not been 
pressed by the foot of a white man, except of the survey- 
or or the hunter, and tall pines overshadowed our mea* 
dows, our gardens, and our streets. 



o 

But, though few in number, and enjoying few coin- 
forts — though pressed towards the ocean by the enemies 
behind them, they resisted and overcame that pressure, 
and gradually but constantly extended their settlements, 
increased their comforts, and augmented their numbers. 
This was the natural result of the motives and character 
of the first settlers of these colonies. The founders of 
nations, as well as of sects and parties, impart their own 
character to their associates and successors, which is retain- 
ed and transmitted through successive ages. All who 
came, with too few exceptions to be noted, possessed stout 
hearts ; sedate, determined resolution ; daring enterprise, 
and that feeling of personal independence which disdains 
the subjection of the thoughts or actions to another's 
will. That they had most of these qualities is shown by 
the mere act of emigration, for no one without them would 
have left the abodes of comfort and civilization for these 
dismal shores ; and every page of the faithful records of 
their motives for removal, of their labors, their sufferings, 
the difficulties they encountered and overcame, bears re- 
splendent concurring testimony. 

The French, in the mean time, with characteristic ac- 
tivity, extended their settlements from the mouth of the St 
Lawrence to the great Lakes, and established posts on the 
river Ohio. The territory on this river was claimed also 
by England ; and the Governor of Virginia determined to 
despatch an Envoy to the French commander to require 
him to abandon his posts. The duties of this office were 
important, and the performance of them difficult and dan- 
gerous. The time was the midst of winter ; the Ohio was 
four hundred miles distant ; the Alleghany mountains in- 
tervened, and hostile Indians roamed through the trackless 
wilderness. Yet to perform these duties he selected 
George Washington, then not twenty-two years of age. 
At this time, began the public career of a man who was 
destined to be the ornament of his race ; and to this ap- 
pointment his countrymen may refer, with honest pride. 



as proof that he, whose age was so illustrious — whose 
fame constitutes a portion of their national glory — was 
distinguished for virtues and talents in his youth. His 
journal, which displays correctness of taste as well as solid- 
ity of judgment, recounts the difficulties he met with, 
the almost miraculous preservation, in two instances, of 
his life, and shews that, in the performance of the duties 
of his commission, he displayed fidelity, intrepidity and 
discretion seldom surpassed by men who have attained the 
meridian of life. 

The French commander not abandoning his posts, the 
Governor of Virginia, although the two nations were then 
at peace, determined to repel these encroachments by force. 
A regiment of troops was raised ; Washington was 
appointed Lieutenant-Colonel ; and, on the death of 
the Colonel, which occurred soon afterwards, the chief 
command devolved upon him. With a portion of the 
regiment, he marched towards the disputed territory, 
and, on his way, captured a detachment of French 
troops, approaching apparently with hostile intentions. 
He was soon afterwards joined by the remainder of the 
regiment, and also, and this fact is not unimportant, by 
two companies of regular British troops. The Captains 
of these companies objected, at first, to being commanded 
by a provincial Colonel. The controversy which arose, 
was, owing to the exigency of the moment, waived for 
the time, and the detachment proceeded. A French force, 
however, was on the march to meet him ; and after sus- 
taining, at fort Necessity, a protracted assault, from a force 
three times the number of his own, he capitulated on hon- 
orable terms. This unfortunate result of the expedition 
did not diminish his reputation. On his return to Vir- 
ginia, the General Assembly presented to him, and to the 
officers who had served under him, their thanks for the 
bravery they had displayed. 

The controversy concerning the rank of regular and 
provincial officers, when serving together, was now re- 



vived. In the succeeding winter, orders were announc- 
ed that, when general and field officers, appointed by co- 
lonial Governors, were serving with officers of the same 
grade, appointed by the King, the former should be enti- 
tled to no rank ; and that Captains and other inferior of- 
ficers of the royal troops, should take rank of provincial 
officers of the same grade, without regard to the date of 
their commissions. Washington, though attached to the 
service, and though gratified by the applauses which had 
been bestowed upon his bravery and military skill, imme- 
diately resigned his commission ; and to all the solicita- 
tions which were addressed to him to continue in the ser- 
vice, he replied, that he would return to it with plea- 
sure, whenever he should be enabled to do so without 
dishonor. 

The lofty spirit exhibited by these English Captains 
was felt and exhibited by Englishmen generally in their 
intercourse with Americans. They had been so long ac- 
customed to speak, and to hear their fellow subjects speak, 
of the latter, as " our colonists in America," that they con- 
sidered them a class of subjects subordinate to themselves. 
This arrogant assumption of superiority inflicted wounds 
deep, sore, and inveterate ; and they were rendered the 
more galling by being inflicted by men who, except dur- 
ing the bright interval when Pitt controlled the desti- 
nies of the kingdom, exhibited gross incompetency, or, at 
best, utter unfitness for the services upon which they were 
sent. That they were sometimes, for they were not al- 
ways, borne without murmuring, must be attributed to 
the propensity inherent in man to pay deference to the 
parent or country from which he derives his existence, 
and to the towering supremacy of Great Britain among 
nations. When borne in silence, the pair, was not the less 
acute, and smothered resentment, with its ever increasing, 
internal fire, consumed all the kindly affections which na- 
ture had implanted. This was undoubtedly one of the 
causes, not the most important nor the most trifling, of 



8 

the disruption of the empire ; and this manifestation, by 
Washington, of indignant and wounded pride, was one 
of the earliest conspicuous expressions of that feeling of 
personal independence, which dwelt, in greater or less 
force, in every American bosom. 

The strength of Virginia being unequal to the object, 
Gen. Braddock, with a well appointed army, was des- 
patched from England to repel the encroachments of the 
French. When making preparations in Virginia to pro- 
ceed on his expedition, he became acquainted with Wash- 
ington, and with his motives for leaving the service. 
These motives increased his respect for the man, and he 
invited him to enter his military family as a volunteer aid. 
In this situation, no controversy about rank could arise ; 
and he, anxious to learn the art of war under a General 
of high reputation for bravery and skill, accepted the in- 
vitation. His advice was sought, was given, but, in the 
commencement of the march, was disregarded. It did 
not comport with the rules of warfare taught by the mas- 
ters of the art in Europe ; and the General had not yet 
learned the injustice of the opinion entertained of the tal- 
ents of the colonists. He was soon, however, compelled 
to adopt the suggestions of Washington ; and had he not 
been deprived, by a severe illness, of his active assistance, 
the expedition might have been attended with a more for- 
tunate result. Detained by this illness, he did not rejoin 
the army until the day previous to the disastrous action 
on the banks of the Monongahela ; and he then immedi- 
ately resumed his duties as aid. In the battle he was con- 
spicuous for his bravery and activity. Although exposed 
more than others to danger, and although every other of- 
ficer on horseback was either killed or wounded, he es- 
caped untouched. When the rout became universal, he 
and the provincials found themselves between the regu- 
lars and the enemy, protected the former in their retreat, 
and were the last who quitted the field. 



9 

The intelligence of this defeat convinced the govern- 
ment of Virginia of the necessity of making immediate 
provision for the protection of her exposed frontier. — 
They determined to rai«e a larger force, and so high was 
then the reputation of Washington, that they tendered to 
him a commission appointing him Colonel and comman- 
der in chief of all the forces, raised and to be raised in 
the colony ; and they granted to him, also, the uncommon 
privilege of naming his own field officers. 

This was in the Summer of the year 1755, when the 
twenty-fourth year of his age had not yet half elapsed. 
To attain such an elevation, although at a late period of 
life, is glorv enough, even for men of splendid talents, 
whose laudable ambition prompts them to aspire after 
fame. That he attained it in his youth ; that he rose 
not to it until repeated trials had tested his fitness ; that 
his life had been often almost miraculously preserved from 
imminent peril, presents to the pious mind a combination 
of proofs, that an all-wise Providence had designed him 
for a holy instrument to accomplish mighty purposes ; 
and was now training him, in a mode obvious to human 
understandings, to be presented afterwards to his fellow- 
men as a destined and consecrated leader. 

This honorable call to the service of his country, in a 
time of alarm and danger, Washington could not decline ; 
and, for nearly three years, his time was constantly occu- 
pied in endeavoring, Avith an incompetent force, to save 
from the horrors of Indian massacre, an exposed frontier 
of more than three hundred miles. His success, though 
equal to his means, was not equal to his efforts ; and 
wherever danger and duty called him, he was compelled to 
witness the direst miseries inflicted by savage warfare — 
towns burnt and deserted, families flying, and men, wo- 
men and children slaughtered. He incessantly importun- 
ed the colonial government to despatch an army against 
Du Quesne, the principal French fort on the Ohio, which 

he considered the source of all the calamities of his fellow- 

2 



10 

citizens. At length, in the summer of 1758, Gen. Forbes, 
who had been appointed commander in chief over the 
Southern and middle colonies, convinced by his urgent 
representations, marched against that post, captured it, and 
thus put an end to the sufferings of Virginia. 

In war with savages, heroes are formed, though no lau- 
rels can be gathered. The most eelebrated of Roman 
Generals first drew their swords in barbarian contests. 
Such wars are characterized by sudden and furious as- 
saults, by well concerted ambushes, by rapid marches 
and ferocious conflicts. They keep in perpetual exercise, 
improve and mature all the faculties which are essential 
to constitute a successful commander — constant vigilance, 
quickness of decision, presence of mind in danger, fertility 
in expedients, and especially cool, undaunted courage. 
And the body is tasked even more severely than the mind. 
The day is spent in flight or pursuit, and the night sel- 
dom brings repose. Washington's health sunk under the 
fatigues he endured, and as the period of danger was pass- 
ed, he determined to resign his commission. By his com- 
panions in arms, this determination was learnt with sor- 
row. In an affectionate address, his officers besought him 
to continue to command them. They referred to the in- 
structions they had received, the services they had per- 
formed, and the happiness they had enjoyed while under 
his orders. " Judge then," they say, " how sensibly we 
" must be afflicted with the loss of such an excellent ccra- 
" mander, such a sincere friend, and such an affable com- 
" panion. How rare is it to find those amiable qualifica- 
" tions blended together in one man ! How great the loss 
" of such a man ! Adieu to that superiority which the en- 
" emy have granted us over other troops, and which even 
" the regulars and provincials have done us the honor 
" publicly to acknowledge ! Adieu to that discipline and 
" order which you have always maintained ! When will 
" our country meet a man so experienced in military af- 
li fairs? One so renowned for patriotism, conduct, and 



11 

" courage ? Who has so great a knowledge of the enemy 
" we have to deal with? Who so well acquainted with 
" their situation and strength ? Who so much respected 
"bv the soldiery? Who, in short, so able to support the 
u military character of Virginia?" 

A more honorable testimonial of merit was never offer- 
ed from man to man, than this, from grateful officers to 
their youthful commander. His determination, however, 
was founded on reasons too cogent to be changed ; and, 
in the beginning of the year 1759, he retired to his farm. 
In this retreat, he spent many subsequent years, in constant 
attention to agricultural pursuits, and in the unostenta- 
tious performance of all the duties of a neighbor and a 
citizen. 

Such were the actions which characterized the youth of 
our Washington. I trust I need not apologize for hav- 
ing endeavored to recall them distinctly* to your recollec- 
tion. Greater actions, performed on a wider theatre, in 
the benefits of which we participated, have cast these too 
much into the shade. This review of them must eradicate 
from the heart all unwillingness to yield profound hom- 
age to a man, the whole tenor of whose life shews that it 
may be yielded without self-abasement. It must excite 
the young men of our country — they who will soon con- 
stitute the nation — to emulate the example placed before 
them, and convince them, not only of the loveliness, but 
of the inestimable advantage, through the longest life, of 
a youth of virtue. 

In the mean time, in another part of the continent, a 
feeling kindred to that which impelled Washington, in 
the first instance, to quit the service of bis King, burst forth, 
at first in low, infrequent, indignant murmurs, but soon 
swelled to the loudest and even angriest tones. Great Brit- 
ain, not content with laws and regulations which rendered 
the industry and the trade of the colonies subservient to her 
own ; which compelled them to bring to her markets the 



12 

produce of their soil, and forbid them from purchasing, 
except in her markets, the principal articles they required 
from abroad ; which suppressed every incipient attempt 
to establish in the colonies such manufactures as might in- 
terfere with her own — thus making a broad and degrad- 
ing distinction between her subjects in England and her 
subjects in America — conceived the project, in the agony 
of an exhausted treasury, of drawing a revenue also from 
the same colonies. That such a project was in contempla- 
tion was surmised, by those accustomed to note the signs 
of the times, as early as 1760. English gentlemen, known 
to be the friends of the prime minister, then visited Amer- 
ica, and sought to ascertain what alterations were neces- 
sary and expedient in the mode of governing the colonies. 
Rumors were spread, no one knew whence they came, 
that Great Britain intended to new model the colonies, 
uniting some and dividing others, and depriving such as 
had them of their charters. The custom-house officers in 
America were required to execute, with increased strict- 
ness, the laws regulating the colonial trade. Governors 
issued proclamations requiring magistrates and citizens to 
assist these officers in the execution of their duties. And 
writs of assistance were issued authorizing them to call to 
their aid whomsoever they chose, whenever they were re- 
sisted or apprehended resistance. 

These and other other omens, rapidly succeeding each 
other, bred doubts, suspicion, and alarm. Correctly did 
Burke characterize our ancestors when he said that they 
were men, who " augured misgovernment at a distance, 
" and snuffed the approach of tyranny in every tainted 
"breeze." These doubts and suspicions were communi- 
cated from one to another, not aloud but in whispers, un- 
til a numerous body of sentinels of observation were plant- 
ed in every portion of New-England. I say New-England, 
for it was here that parliamentary regulations interfered 
most with the industry of the people. It was here that, 
deemed derogatory to the equal rights of British subjects 



13 

wherever they might live, they were less regarded, and 
that the efforts made to enforce obedience first excited to 
action that spirit of independence which characterized in 
a greater or less degree, the inhabitants of all the colonies. 

Much discussion, you well know, has been wasted, to 
determine what act or event should be considered the com- 
mencement of the American Revolution. This is a ques- 
tion which, from the nature of things, it is impossible to 
determine. Events are connected by an unbroken chain, 
extending from the beginning to the end of time. But all 
events have an order of succession, and, to human under- 
standings, differ in importance. In tracing back those of 
our history, the mind is forcibly arrested at the op- 
position made to writs of assistance, at Boston, in 1761. 
Then and there was the first direct, public conflict be- 
tween the authority claimed by the mother country, and 
the rights asserted by the colonists. Then and there was 
first argued the great question of American rights. Then 
and there the voice of Otis proclaimed with manly intre- 
pidity, and scattered in copious profusion, the true prin- 
ciples of liberty. Then and there were sown the seeds of 
patriots and heroes, which, falling not on stony places 
nor by the way side, afterwards sprung up and flourish- 
ed abundantly, producing some fifty and some an hundred 
fold. 

Would to God I could present vividly to your contem- 
plation, in all their freshness, the motives and principles 
of those whose foresight enabled them to perceive ap- 
proaching danger, and whose attachment to liberty im- 
pelled them, hazarding all else that was dear to them, to 
warn and enlighten their countrymen, thus placing them- 
selves in the post of peril. History, fond of reciting war- 
like achievements, has devoted too few of her pages to this 
more important but less interesting period. She hastens 
from war to war, the events of which she minutely de- 
scribes, leaving almost untouched those intervening peri- 
ods in which lie buried the causes of war, in which the 



14 

noblest faculty of man, his mind, is active, and in which 
are brought into exercise, the higher virtues of moral cour- 
age and forecasting patriotism. To this period, should 
the politicians of the present clay, even the best of them, 
more frequently recur, they would find their principles 
corrected, their motives purified, their selfishness rebuked, 
their patriotism renovated, and they would witness in con- 
stant operation the ennobling spirit of stern, uncomprom- 
ising personal independence, which impels a man to de- 
termine for himself and to act as he determines. 

Not aware of the spirit which animated the colonists, 
Great Britain, in 1764, passed the plantation act, the first 
in which the intention of raising a revenue in America was 
expressly avowed. Next in the order of events, in our rev- 
olutionary history, stands the Boston resolutions, drawn 
by Samuel Adams, the most clear sighted and inflexible of 
our early patriots ; then stands the masterly instructions 
of the General Court of Massachusetts to their agent in 
London, which were communicated to the other assem- 
blies ; then the remonstrances from those assemblies, par- 
ticularly from that of New-York ; then the stamp act ; 
then the Virginia resolutions ; then the complete nullifi- 
cation of that act by a resolute and enraged people ; then 
the Congress of 1765; then the reluctant repeal of the 
stamp act by Parliament ; then the revival of taxation in 
a different mode ; then non-importation agreements, and 
a reiteration of remonstrances ; then the quartering of 
large bodies of troops in the colonies, particularly in Bos- 
ton ; then the Boston Massacre ; then the destruction of 
the tea ; then the Boston port bill ; and then the first con- 
tinental Congress, in which twelve of the thirteen colo- 
nies were represented. 

Of this Congress, held in 1774, Washington was a mem- 
ber. He had not, in his retreat, been unmindful of the 
contest which raged around him, nor did he hesitate to 
take, in its commencement, the part of his country. He 
was, indeed, in a subordinate sphere, an actor in this con- 



15 

test. He was often, if not constantly, a member of the 
House of Burgesses of Virginia, and, in 1769, his name 
was subscribed to a non-importation agreement, which 
the members drew up immediately after the house had 
been dissolved, in a tempest of passion, by the King's 
Governor. In this Congress he stood at the head of those 
members who were conversant with military affairs, and 
was placed on all the committees appointed to make ar- 
rangements for defence. The dignity of his manners, his 
constant attention to his duties, and the solidity of his 
judgment impressed his associates with the highest respect 
for his talents and character. 

Of the next Congress, which met in May, '75, Wash- 
ington was also a member. This Congress exhibited a 
spectacle of moral sublimity which has few equals in the 
annals of nations. The contest had advanced to that point 
when the decision became necessary between submission, 
on the one hand, or resistance, by open, organized force, 
to the mighty power of Great Britain, on the other. Sub- 
mission would not then have been as degrading as at any 
subsequent period. It might have found extenuation in 
the apparent hopelessness of success, and still more in the 
desire of being connected, on such terms of friendship as 
were yet possible, with a powerful empire, allied in blood, 
speaking the same language, and professing the same faith. 
On the other hand, all was hazarded. If unsuccessful, 
that country which they loved, and the destiny of which 
had been committed to their keeping, would be crushed, 
by inflicted punishments, into miserable servitude ; their 
own heads, severed by the public executioner, would be 
exhibited to the gaze of an English mob, as the heads of 
traitors ; and their names would be transmitted to poster- 
ity on the same list with those of Welsh, Scotch, and Irish 
rebels. — The manifesto which they published to the 
world, declaring the necessity of taking up arms, proved — 
can higher praise be awarded? — that they were willing 
to hazard all for principle. 



16 

This step rendered another indispensable, the choice of 
a commander of their united forces. And I must not per- 
mit this occasion to pass of doing merited honor to a man 
who has connected his name as indissolubly with these 
times, as Washington his own with the more brilliant 
times which succeeded. No blood had then been shed, 
but in New-England — no forces were then arrayed but 
New-England forces, and these were under the command 
of a favorite son of Massachusetts. Yet John Adams, 
mindful only of the good of the cause — desirous of bring- 
ing the full force of the South to the aid of that cause — 
rose in his place, and with disinterested magnanimity, nom- 
inated George Washington, a son of Virginia, for that 
office ; and doubtless had futurity, not then far remote, 
been opened to his view, he would not have had a thought 
to do otherwise. A unanimous vote confirmed the nom- 
ination. 

Gentlemen, the events of the revolutionary war are fa- 
miliar to you all as household words. All of you have 
read, many of you have heard, by the evening fireside, 
from the lips of fathers who witnessed what they related, 
the thrilling story of acts of self devotion, and of deeds of 
noble daring performed by the beloved chief, his faithful 
officers, and the untitled soldier ; of the successes and de- 
feats of our armies ; of the alternate light and gloom which 
passed over the land ; of the almost unintermitted and 
intense sufferings of the soldiery and the people ; and 
while you read, and while you listened, you have felt your 
bosoms swell with generous emotion, not more at the bra- 
very displayed, than at the steady devotion to principle 
which hallowed that bravery. And, thanks be to God, 
some, who acted and suffered in that contest, are yet per- 
mitted to live ; to stand before us as living memorials of 
those times ; to witness and to enjoy the happiness and 
greatness which is their work ; and to blast, with their 



17 

withering frown, the first traitorous thought of Sacrific- 
ing that happiness and that greatness to personal ambition. 

Washington led to victory the armies which achieved 
our independence, but not to him only is our gratitude 
due. His spirit would frown indignant from the skies on 
that undistinguishing adulation, which, forgetting his fel- 
low patriots and fellow soldiers, should ascribe to him all 
the glory. They shared in his councils, in his labors, in 
his dangers, in his aspirations ; and let them never be sep- 
arated in our affections. Enough for hiin the glory of 
actions in which none participated ; which his own pa- 
triotism and his own virtue prompted. Before them fades 
the splendor of all his victories ; and great as he was in 
Avar, he was greater at its close. Pardon me for present- 
ing to you so often facts and virtues, rather than princi- 
ples and precepts. It is the frequent contemplation of 
great actions, that plants the love of them in the human 
heart, and inspires the wish, and imparts the ability, to 
equal them. The States were independent, but exhaust- 
ed of their resources. Their strength was concentra- 
ted in their army. That army was discontented — I 
cast no imputation upon its honor — at the protracted ne- 
glect of the country, arising more from inability than 
will, to fulfil her promises. At the head of this army was 
a hero who had all its affections, and whose services a 
grateful people felt they could not sufficiently reward. 
Parasites inflamed the discontents of the army, and mag- 
nified the services of their commander. The opportuni- 
ty, as they thought, prepared, they presented to his imag- 
ination the splendors of a crown. He spurned the insult- 
ing suggestion. And it is the proud boast of this country, 
that her annals present the solitary instance of a successful 
soldier, who, being thus tempted, did not fall. 

A civil war, and such was the war of our Revolution, 
presents human passions and human misery in their most 
degraded and horrid forms. But it has, and what cn^e t- 
ity has not ? its redeeming influence. If it renders the vi- 



18 

cious vile, it renders the good great. If it brutalizes 
some, it ennobles others. If it excites and nourishes the 
baser, malignant passions, it calls into action dormant vir- 
tues, and especially dormant talents. And when liberty 
is the prize for which the contest is waged, they who con- 
tend for it feel the full force of this redeeming influence. 
Holland felt it ; England felt it, and may again feel it ; 
even France felt it — but less, from the debasing effects of 
centuries of despotism, in eliciting virtues than talent. 
Our country felt it in eliciting and nurturing both. Here 
were formed heroes who were statesmen, and statesmen 
who were patriots. To the chosen of these was delegat- 
ed the power of devising a system of government, by 
which our union might be consolidated, and our strength, 
as a nation, more efficiently exerted. In this assembly, 
the first place could be assigned only to Washington, and 
the system devised was presented to the country with the 
sanction of his name. 

The adoption by the people of a written Constitution, 
devised by delegates chosen for that purpose, prescribing 
definite limits to the power of rulers, is one of the impor- 
tant events, perhaps the most important of all, which dis- 
tinguishes the century now terminated. The term, Con- 
stitution, was indeed before in use, but its meaning was es- 
sentially different. It meant only the form of govern- 
ment, moulded by chance or force, and regulations of ru- 
lers which rulers could change at pleasure. The people 
of this Republic, to their high and immortal honor be it 
spoken, are the first who have resorted to this political 
expedient. It was intended principally to secure the per- 
manent enjoyment of that freedom which all other repub- 
lics had lost. Should this expedient be found as efficient 
for the preservation of liberty as its devisers most ardent- 
ly hoped, the era of the adoption of our Constitution will, 
through all future time, be hailed as the most glorious era 
in ( he history of man. Our posterity — the whole world 
— will look back to it with emotions of gratitude ; dis- 



tant and unborn nations will copy the example ; and the 
whole family of man will yield glad and universal assent 
to the pre-eminence of civil wisdom over every other hu- 
man endowment. 

In construing this Constitution, men are governed by 
their preconceived opinions of what ought to be its im- 
port. He whose temper, or whose personal experience, 
leads him to dread the evils of anarchy, finds in it the 
grant to the government it created of more extensive [low- 
ers than he who, having a higher opinion of man's nature, 
thinks that the less his actions are restrained, the more he 
will improve in virtue. Neither opinion is inconsistent 
with honesty, nor with patriotism. Each has been em- 
braced by great and good men, and the supporters of each 
appeal, with equal confidence, to the lessons of history, 
in confirmation of that which they have embraced. But 
history affords no means of deciding the question. Man, 
it may be. is in all ages the same ; but he is not, in differ- 
ent ages and in different positions, subject to the same in- 
fluences. In one age, and under circumstances which must 
inevitably be peculiar, a republic verges by gradual pro- 
gress towards despotism. In another age, or in a differ- 
ent country, the circumstances being again peculiar, ano- 
ther republic verges towards, and at length plunges into, 
anarchy. Many circumstances in our condition, at once 
favorable and peculiar, allow us to hope, at least, that 
the fate of this republic will be more happy than that of 
all others. It was the intent of the framers of our 
Constitution to construct a government which should, by 
its opposing forces, be kept within its orbit, and preserve 
us from either catastrophe. Washington was called up- 
on to give it its first impulse, and he gave it, pursuing the 
intent of its founders. Acknowledging no party name, he 
belonged to that class of politicians who, carrying to the 
utmost extent the doctrine, that all men have equal rights 
— that rulers are accountable to the people, the source of 
all power — believe that a government cannot accomplish 



so 

its legitimate purposes — cannot protect the weak against 
the strong and defend the nation — without being clothed 
with efficient powers. His personal experience of the in- 
efficacy of the confederation, occasioning to himself con- 
tinual and poignant suffering, had doubtless an influence 
informing this opinion. His sincerity, his love of liber- 
ty, and of his country, cannot for a moment be disbeliev- 
ed nor doubted. In entering upon the duties of his high 
office, he laid bare his heart to his fellow-citizens. Cer- 
tainly his avowals and declarations cannot be interpre- 
ted by the usual rule of interpreting professions. Ex- 
pressing his confidence that the foundations of our nation- 
al polity would be laid in the pure and immutable prin- 
ciples of private morality, and the pre-eminence of a free 
government be exemplified by all the attributes which can 
win the affections of its citizens, and command the respect 
of the world, " I dwell," said he, " on this prospect with 
" every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country 
'* can inspire. Since there is no truth more thoroughly 
" established than that there exists, in the economy and 
" course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue 
" and happiness — between duty and advantage — between 
" the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous pol- 
" icy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and fe- 
" licity ; Since we ought to be no less persuaded, that the 
" propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a 
" nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and of 
" right, which Heaven itself has ordained ; And since the 
"preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the desti- 
" ny of the republican model of government, are justly 
" considered as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the 
"experiment entrusted to the American people." The 
great actions of his life give not more lustre to his char- 
acter than sentiments like these. They should be en- 
graven deeply on the hearts of people, and of rulers, and 
should guide them, not only in public stations, but in pri- 
vate life. 



SI 

The world, and even the citizens of his own country, 
have regarded Washington as a hero rather than as a 
statesman. The splendor of his military deeds have, in 
their eyes, far outshone the mild effulgence of his peaceful 
labors and civil virtues. Reflection will convince us that 
this estimate of the value of his different services, and of 
the degree of talent displayed in performing them, is er- 
roneous. In his high civil office, he was heset by difficul- 
ties as great as those which he had before surmounted. 
It devolved upon him to administer a new government ac- 
cording to a Constitution which had yet received no con- 
struction ; to establish precedents which would have in- 
fluence, if not force, through all future time ; to fill eve- 
ry national office created by the Constitution and the 
laws ; to commence and carry on negotiations with for- 
eign powers ; and to do all this without precedents to 
guide him ; with little experience of his own, and with 
little opportunity to consult the experience of others. 
And yet how admirably did his good sense and singleness 
of purpose enable him to perform correctly all these du- 
ties. He had no occasion to retrace his steps ; he estab- 
lished no precedent by which his successors were misguid- 
ed ; he placed no unworthy citizen in office ; nor did he 
sacrifice the interests or the honor of his country in for- 
eign negotiations. 

And the difficulties of another kind were still greater. 
The stormy passions of man, which the recent war had 
inflamed, and which were permitted to rage unrestrain- 
ed during the interval which followed, could not be re- 
pressed in a moment. The new position in which inde- 
pendence placed our foreign trade, especially with Great 
Britain and her colonies — a position which could not be 
readily comprehended by the people — rendered it impos- 
sible to conclude a treaty with that power which would 
he satisfactory to a majority of the nation. And the con- 
vulsion of an allied kingdom, resembling those tremen- 
dous convulsions of nature, which raise vallevs to moun- 



29 

tains, depress lofty mountains to valleys, and change the 
whole face of the earth, reached these distant shores, and 
agitated all around him. Calm himself, he repressed, as 
much as to man was possible, the passions of others. He 
quelled the most formidable insurrection that has disgrac- 
ed our annals ; he ratified the treaty with England in de- 
fiance of the condemning voice of the nation, and experi- 
ence has shown that he, who saw the whole ground, was 
wiser than they ; he breasted the first waves of popular 
commotion, which, rising in France, threatened, as he 
thought, to overwhelm his country, and they broke at 
his feet. No danger approached his country which he 
did not repel ; no advantage offered which he did not se- 
cure ; no right nor interest, which required protection, 
did he fail to protect. — And is not this the whole duty 
of government? Brilliant talents, impelled sometimes by 
that ardent benevolence which pants to improve the con- 
dition of man upon earth, may devise splendid schemes to 
propel him forward faster than his own unassisted and 
unrestricted energies would carry him ; but such schemes, 
when executed, often, certainly not always, exhibit mon- 
uments of the vanity of human wisdom, and of the feeble- 
ness of human foresight : intended to assist the designs of 
Providence, they are often found in conflict with them ; 
and instead of augmenting the sum of national wealth and 
human happiness, they, unless the benevolence which de- 
vises is controlled by enlightened wisdom, do but alter 
the distribution and change the recipients. 

Gentlemen, the voice of eulogium would pall upon your 
ears, were I to speak to you of all the great actions of 
Washington, even though in terms which your hearts 
would pronounce to be just. Among his greatest was 
that which, aside from the precedent it established, was 
most regretted by his countrymen. Believing that he 
had fulfilled all the duties which one individual could 
owe to his country, he determined to retire from his high 



23 

station ; and, what would have been arrogance in anoth- 
er, but in him was but a proof of his affection for his fel- 
low-citizens, he gave thein, in a farewell address, his pa- 
ternal advice. Is it because this address contains admoni- 
tions which would wound our consciences, that it is so sel- 
dom before us ? It speaks not well for us, that it is oftener 
quoted to convict our adversaries, than consulted to guide 
our own conduct. It contains treasures of wisdom deriv- 
ed from reflection and experience. It came from a heart 
warm with attachment to his country. No selfish feeling 
could have prompted a wish it expresses. No sinister mo- 
tive could have dictated a thought it contains. As well 
might the parting counsels of a dying parent be received 
with indifference or distrust. And, Oh, may we never feel 
those agonies of remorse which we must feel, when na- 
tional calamities recall to mind his disregarded and for- 
gotten admonitions. 

No subject of contemplation can afford to the mind such 
elevated pleasure as the retirement, in his old age, of a 
great and good man, from the scenes of active life, to rest 
from his labors, and to prepare for existence beyond the 
grave. And this pleasure partakes of moral sublimity 
when he retires who has filled the world with his renown. 
It is like the broad, unclouded, summer sun, with no spots 
on his disc but such as prying curiosity with her telescope 
discovers, slowly descending behind our western hills, 
after having, in his lofty course, imparted light, and life, 
and happiness to millions of sentient beings. For Wash- 
ington's happiness in his retreat, there rose to Heaven, 
from almost every bosom, silent but fervent prayers. — 
And he must have been happy. He could not have looked 
back upon his long life of virtue ; he could not have look- 
ed back upon his participation with other patriots, in 
achieving the independence of his country, in establishing 
a republican government, and in presenting to the world 
an example of such a government successfully administer- 
ed upon the same principles of morality as are prescribed 



S4 

to man in private life ; — he could not have looked for- 
ward to tiie elevation to which, should this example be 
followed, his beloved republic would rise, and to the hap- 
piness of the millions it would promote, without feeling a 
foretaste of that bliss which this world cannot give. Ev- 
ery breeze that came to him bore vows of gratitude. 
Every look that met his, expressed the homage of the 
heart. 

What a contrast to this has been presented in the clos- 
ing scenes of the life of another hero, who has filled the 
world with his fame. He too was a successful soldier. 
His first victories were gained in the cause of freedom, 
and her friends cheered him onward with their applaud- 
ing shouts. But, yielding to temptation, he grasped a 
crown when it was offered, and trampled liberty under his 
feet. The independence and safety of his country secured, 
he fought for glory, and for that glory which can be ac- 
quired only by the miseries of fellow-men. Like a me- 
teor which, blazing through the sky, is arrested midway 
in its course, he fell. Removed far from the scenes of his 
glory, from all that could afford him delight — with a 
ruffian for his gaoler — he lived to regret mistakes com- 
mitted, and opportunities lost of gaining a name which 
posterity would bless. The world still resounded with 
the fame of his exploits ; commiseration, founded on the 
good he had done and the greatness of his fall, was felt 
for his fate ; but did he leave the nation he had governed 
free, independent, contented, and prosperous? Did fer- 
vent prayers, from the hearts of happy millions, ascend 
to Heaven for his happiness in exile? In looking back, 
what objects did his view rest upon ? In looking for- 
ward, what hopes could console him ? Did a voice from 
St Helena admonish grateful listeners, that the paths of 
peace, of mutual forbearance, and of brotherl love are 
the paths which lead to national greatness? And did not 
commiseration for his fate sink almost into contempt, at 
the inglorious struggle to retain, on a desert rock, in a 



25 

distant ocean, when all besides was lost, a sounding but 
empty title? 

Io-norant nations, in the rude ages of the world, believ- 
ed that the founders of States and Kingdoms were plac- 
ed in the number of their Gods. If enlightened reason 
smiles at their intellectual blindness, it approves the feel- 
ing which gave birth to their error. Certainly no human 
merit can be greater than that of those who relieve a peo- 
ple from oppression, establish their independence, pro- 
tect them from danger, and, in their origin, impress upon 
them a character which, remaining through successive 
ages, must promote their individual happiness and col- 
lective greatness. And it is a dictate of wisdom no less 
than of feeling — of patriotism no less than of gratitude 
— to honor, with almost religious solemnities, great and 
departed public benefactors. The feeling which dictates 
this course is not even akin to that which bows man down 
before living mortals. This debases, that ennobles, hu- 
man nature ; and either prevailing expels the other from 
the heart. No. It is by cherishing the memory of its 
founders, by meditating often upon their actions, their 
qualities and their virtues, that a nation, and especially a 
republic, will perpetuate its existence and its happiness. 

And what were the virtues and qualities which shone 
conspicuous in the actions and character of our Washing- 
ton? That which raised him above all the miscalled 
great, even above all the truly great, of ancient and mod- 
ern times, was doubtless love of country. His bravery, a 
not uncommon virtue, has been equalled, though never 
excelled, by others ; his military skill has been surpassed ; 
but history does not exhibit, nor, I speak not the language 
of inflated encomium, has imagination ever created a 
character distinguished by such pure, disinterested patri- 
otism. What single act of his whole public life evinced 
a regard for personal interest, or personal enjoyment, 
when that interest or enjoyment came in competition with 



26 

the welfare of his country ? What sacrifices did he not 
make, what responsibilities did he not assume, what dan- 
gers did he not encounter, what laborious cares did he 
not undertake, at the call and in the service of his fellow- 
citizens. Love of country is not a rare virtue ; it exists 
in every generous bosom ; when it leaves the heart, it 
leaves nothing behind that is not worthy of execration : 
but rare, indeed, are such surpassing and self-denying 
examples of that virtue. A nation that can exhibit them 
in its annals, should be more proud of them than of a 
hundred victories. It should hold them tip to the view 
of all, that all, by the contemplation, may feel an added 
portion of that virtue warm and expand their own bosoms. 

Sound judgment was another prominent trait in his 
character. By this he was distinguished from other great 
men, many of whom had more brilliant talents, and more 
varied knowledge. This kept in due subjection all his 
passions, and all the other faculties of his mind. It was 
the all-pervading influence of this which formed a charac- 
ter so perfectly consistent with itself — so entirely free 
from all that was little, and all that was extravagant ; 
and it was this which saved his country from the adoption 
of wild theories and splendid, untried schemes. 

Another trait, perhaps still more prominent, was stern, 
unyielding, personal independence. He was slow in form- 
ing opinions ; he received thankfully, and he sought, rea- 
sons and facts from others ; but his mind formed its own 
conclusions ; they were formed according to the dictates 
of his own conscience, and his own reason ; and his acts 
followed his decisions as inevitably as effect follows cause. 
Not the solicitation of friends, not the threats of enemies, 
not the benefit of party, could induce him to change his 
purpose. What to him were such or any considerations, 
when they pointed to a course which his judgment, or his 
convictions of duty, condemned? These, and these only, 
governed his conduct, whether in a public or private sta- 
tion. 



27 

This high quality of the mind is inestimable in every 
pursuit, and in every position, in which man can be plac- 
ed. Without it he loses his individuality, and is fit only 
to be an instrument for tyrants to use. Many possess it 
from nature, and those who do not may acquire it. They 
may acquire it by reflecting for what purpose, reason, a 
mind, a soul was given to them. They may acquire it by 
contemplating the characters of the great men who have 
displayed it in their lives. They may acquire it by keep- 
ing constantly in view the character and actions of Wash- 
ington. And in times when the path of duty is not 
plain to the view ; when opposing motives and oppos- 
ing reasons render decision difficult, let the question be 
asked, what would Washington do? and the answer 
will point as unerringly to that path as any guide that 
can be chosen. 

We have glanced at the condition of our country at the 
commencement of this century. Indulge me one moment 
while I present to you our condition now. From half a 
million our population has increased to more than twelve 
millions and a half. Our wealth and our comforts have 
multiplied beyond all precedent example. We have now 
a rank, if not the highest when measured by the scale of 
power, yet the most envied rank, among the nations of 
the earth. We are knit together by firmer bonds, and 
should " certain of our stars shoot madly from their 
" spheres," the attraction of interest, and of early affec- 
tion will speedily recall them. Our national strength 
places us beyond the dread of foreign domination, even of 
foreign attack. We have political institutions formed and 
fashioned by the people, for the good of the people, sub- 
ject to be changed by the people, at their volition, and at 
theirs alone. Here, more than in any other country, does 
man enjoy freedom of thought and of action. Here man 
stands, with the full stature of a man, as God made and 
intended him to stand, " redeemed, regenerated, disen- 



m 

"thralled." Here he may exercise all the attributes of 
a man, and rise to the highest degree of excellence of 
which his mental and moral nature is capable. Let not 
this be said, nor be heard, but with fervent gratitude to 
that God, by whom, through the instrumentality of pa- 
triots and heroes who have departed, or are fast depart- 
ing, to receive their reward, these blessings have been se- 
cured to us. Let it not be said, nor be heard, without 
solemn consideration of the duties which the enjoyment 
of these blessings imposes upon us sill. If man here, indi- 
vidually, stands in a more dignified attitude than those 
around him, he has also, individually, a far higher re- 
sponsibility. He is bound to understand his rights, and 
to protect them. He is bound to know his duties, and to 
perform them. Upon him it depends whether the tree of 
liberty shall take deep and deeper root, flourish, and over- 
spread the whole world with its branches ; or whether 
man shall again sink, and forever, to the degraded condi- 
tion of being the footstool of despots, or the sport and 
victim of ruthless, contending factions. He cannot, with- 
out descending from his high elevation, and confessing 
that man is not capable of governing himself, shift his re- 
sponsibility upon others. _He cannot perform all his du- 
ties to his country, and to his'government, without seek- 
ing knowledge, dismissing prejudice, welcoming truth 
vvhencesoever it comes, cultivating brotherly love, and 
love of country. Let him do all this, and he will render 
himself worthy a place among the compatriots of Wash- 
ington. 



